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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Fire shuts Kenya's main airport, chokes regional gateway

Fire shuts Kenya's main airport, chokes regional
gateway

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Drazen
Jorgic28 minutes ago

By Drazen Jorgic
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A fire engulfed Kenya's main airport on Wednesday,
forcing the indefinite suspension of international passenger flights and choking
a vital travel gateway to east Africa.
The blaze lit up the early morning sky, the billowing clouds of black smoke
engulfing the terminal buildings visible from miles away.
The intense heat repeatedly drove back firefighters who battled for five
hours to put out the fire, the worst on record at Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport, east Africa's busiest.
Michael Kamau, cabinet secretary for transport said an investigation into the
fire would start immediately but that it was too early to speculate on the
cause.

The blaze stranded thousands of passengers at the airport and exporters of
perishable produce, mainly flowers, feared for their export-driven business, a
leading source of foreign exchange for Kenya alongside tea exports and
tourism.
"This is disastrous," Jane Ngige, chief executive officer of exporters
association Kenya Flower Council, told Reuters.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the fire, which started in
the arrivals and immigration area. Business travellers and tourists were
diverted to other airports in the region.
Shares in Kenya Airways, which uses the airport as its main hub, fell 2
percent. Foreign carriers using the terminal include Emirates, British Airways,
Qatar, KLM), Turkish Airways, South African Airlines and Ethiopian airlines.
Kenyan authorities said domestic flights and international cargo flights
would resume later on Wednesday. Plans for international flights would be
announced later.

"Right now we've allowed the cargo to come in. Fruits, flower are coming in
and are being processed. We hope we will be able to resume domestic flights,"
Kamau said.
ROOF COLLAPSE
Inside the gutted building, neat lines of metal trolleys with melted plastic
handles were the only clear reminder that the building - whose roof partially
collapsed - was once an airport terminal.
Some passengers searched for their luggage amid the charred ruins while
outside, staff from Western embassies waved their national flags to attract
passengers looking for a route home or a place to stay.
The fire coincided with the 15th anniversary of a twin attacks by Islamist
militants on the United States embassy in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the
commercial capital of neighbouring Tanzania.

But security analysts said there was as yet no indication of any link to
Islamist militants that Kenyan soldiers are battling in neighbouring Somalia as
part of an African Union force.
"It doesn't bear the hallmarks of an al Shabaab operation but one never
knows. It might be something new," said a regional security analyst, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
The fire was a major blow to Kenya right at the start of the busiest period
of the tourism season, a key sector for the Kenyan economy and an important
source of foreign currency earnings.
Tourists to the world famous Masai Mara Game Reserve had canceled their
bookings, tour operators said.
Flights were diverted to Kenya's port city of Mombasa. Plans were underway to
divert other flights to Eldoret in the northwest and Kisumu in the west, as well
as to neighbouring countries including Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

Passengers faced bus trips of hundreds of miles to reach the Kenyan
capital.
"I had two appointments today in Nairobi which I have missed because of
this," Susan Eklow, 42, from Sweden told Reuters in Mombasa.
"We haven't been told anything except to hang around here as a solution was
sought," said Muses Heuwaggen, 45, a German tourist in Mombasa headed to
Naivasha in the scenic Rift Valley.
(Additional reporting by Kevin Mwanza and Duncan Miriri and Richard Lough in
Nairobi, Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa, John Tompo in Narok, Jenny Clover in Kigali
and Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Jon
Boyle)

Michelle Obama Photo at Whitehouse

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As Project Director for Confederation Council Foundation for Africa inc.,I Aim to provide platform open doors for development towards the emerging entrepreneurship agenda among New American Migrants. We provide sustainable settlement towards self-sufficiency. The Foundation under my leadership intends to fulfil Immigration Settlement Program and the Millenium Development Goals Strategic Plan of Action. Our Mission is to Network for start-up business, job creation for talented and skilled individuals, Business Investments Locally and Abroad. We involve simple Economic and Educational Networking and empowerment - partnering with Federal Government, the Civic Societies, Faith Based and Non-Profit project under One-Stop-Service plan. The purpose is to encourage more Women and Youth who are the engine of CHANGE towards achieving sustainable policy enactment & Socio/Economic DEMANDs in order to curtail growing influx of African migration which will eventually reduce unwarranted relocation and suffering of many people.